


Tales from the Mad Science Team

by bimothra



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self-Aware
Genre: Found Family Moments, Mad Scientist AU, gordon is as batshit as the science team
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26353792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bimothra/pseuds/bimothra
Summary: Gordon Freeman was an intern at Black Mesa... At least, he was until a work accident happens and he meets some very strange folks.
Comments: 38
Kudos: 291





	1. Chapter 1

  
Gordon Freeman was your run-of-the-mill intern at Black Mesa. Sitting at the young age of 24, he was an unremarkable sort of guy. Sure, he had his bachelor’s, but that was it- he loved science, but couldn’t get his brain to focus on it right...

It was a wonder he even got the internship. 

Black Mesa was a bit of a strange place- at least, Gordon had that inkling from how his superiors acted. There were murmurs of a ‘project’, and various ‘prototypes’; whispers of a ‘second one’ and the ‘cyborg’; talk of hazardous waste and experiments involving it... 

It was apparently out of his pay grade, so he never brought it up. 

That would turn out to be his downfall.

Gordon was walking across a large balcony rail, passing through some of Black Mesa’s infamous Green Sludge processing. He was going to head deeper into the facility for a coffee delivery- of course, he was supposed to be getting to experience the working conditions in real time, but the scientists seemed to enjoy using him as a coffee boy instead. 

It was fine. He... he didn’t mind.

Gordon walked further down the rail, hearing it creak beneath his feet. It was a relatively old thing... rusty. It made him nervous.

He stepped forward again, and the entire rafter lurched- not a normal lurch, either. It was like the metal was screaming out in pain.

Gordon’s fight-or-flight instincts kicked in, and as he slammed his foot down, he made a run for the end of the platform. The rail lurched and groaned, and Gordon heard a large crash. The first part of the platform had fallen into the sludge, and he would be next. 

Clawing his way up, Gordon’s hand missed the edge, and before he knew it, he was sent tumbling down with a scream. His yelling was muted quickly thanks to him getting submerged in a vat of green sludge, hitting his head on the way down.

Everything went dark. 

...

Gordon wasn’t sure where he was, but it was bright, and fuzzy... 

Had he died? Was he in heaven? Or maybe... the other place? There was no noise, except-

Well, no, there was noise. Someone clinking a spoon on the edge of a bowl. Gordon tried to focus his vision, finding it.. surprisingly easier than usual. Had he fallen asleep with his glasses on?

...Nope, didn’t seem like it. His arm still felt sore, even when he was just prodding at his face. 

“Don’t strain yourself too hard. You just woke up,” a voice said softly.

Something metal gently grabbed his arm, placing it by his side once more.

“Wh... Where am I..?” Gordon asked weakly, turning his head slightly to face the man in the room with him.

The man was considerably older than him, with fluffy white hair and a jolly moustache that gave away his old age immediately. Half of his face was covered in metal, his eye a stark neon green and his pupil in the shape of a crosshair. The arm stirring what Gordon now realized was soup was just as metallic as his face, and the bits of metal that crept out from under his sleeve seemed to imply that his entire arm was bionic. He wore a black lab coat, and a green shirt with a blue tie.

Maybe Gordon really had died, and this robot-man was just his guardian angel. 

“You’re in Black Mesa’s hospital wing,” the man informed him. “You’ve been out for 3 days... welcome back.”

“Three days?!” Gordon shot up in his bed, grabbing his head frantically. “God, really? It doesn’t feel-“

A cold, metal hand reached out and gently moved Gordon back onto the pillow. “You’re still weak. You need rest.”

“Ugh... What... what happened? Who are you?” Gordon asked blearily.

“You fell into some of Black Mesa’s Green Sludge! I’m terribly allergic to that stuff. I hope you weren’t either,” the man explained.

“Oh, yeah...” Gordon rubbed the back of his head. “It’s all coming back to me now.”  
“...Are you like, one of the doctors here, or...?”

The man shook his head. “No, just... someone who cares.”

Gordon’s eyes widened. “Then where’s the doctor...?”

“Who knows?” the man said idly, looking away. “Black Mesa’s never been the kindest when it comes to... the accident-prone. If I had to guess, they’d have planned to put you in a tube.”

“A TUBE?!”

“A tube.”

“But... I’m just a normal guy!” Gordon cried.

“I’m afraid that encounter with the sludge... changed you, Mr. Freeman,” the man said, holding up a hand mirror.

Gordon looked at himself, stunned. While it was true he looked mostly the same, his eyes...

His eyes were green. Like, bright green.

And, oh god, they GLOWED. Why did they glow?? Is this why he could see well?? 

His mind was running a mile a minute... the world felt so much MORE. He felt like a mantis shrimp or something, feeling so much more than the normal human would.

He felt... different, somehow. New. 

The man lowered the mirror, handing Gordon the bowl he had been stirring so diligently. “Here. Eat. You’ll feel better.” 

Gordon took the bowl quietly- soup, just like he suspected. He ditched the spoon entirely, just slurping from the bowl. He didn’t find himself particularly caring about what the other man thought at the moment. It was good, filling for the soul... made him feel comfortably warm.

“Ah... thank you,” Gordon finished with a smile. 

This was...

He hadn’t gotten so much as a passing glance from most of his Black Mesa coworkers, but this man... Had he really been the one to nurse Gordon back to health? All on his own, without anyone asking him to?

That was...

It made Gordon want to cry.

“I’m Dr. Coomer, by the way. Head of Restricted Research here at Black Mesa.”

“Restricted Research? I’ve never heard of that.”

“That’s because it’s restricted.”

Coomer sighed, looking away as he tapped his thumbs together. “It’s... also not technically a part of Black Mesa.”

Gordon frowned. “Huh?”

“I’ll explain when you’re well enough. For now... try to get some rest. I know you just woke up, but it’ll heal you faster. I brought some water if you need it.”

“Uh-huh,” Gordon said weakly, as Coomer tucked him back in. Coomer stroked the hair out of his forehead fondly.

“Thanks... dad.”

And Gordon was out like a light.

Coomer decided he wasn’t going to comment. The poor man was probably still groggy.

...

The next time Gordon awoke, he found his pounding headache to be absent, thank God for that. However, there was still a whole slew of problems to deal with.

For starters, his eyes were still green, glowing... and he didn’t even know what else that sludge had done to his body.

Then there was his brain... he felt like he was seeing new DIMENSIONS or something. It buzzed, aching for activity to stimulate it... the pursuit of knowledge screaming in his ear near-constantly. He wanted to make things explode, to turn them inside out and study them...

Oh, and finally, the man who was standing over his shirtless body, shocking his chest for some reason. 

“Uh-“

“Can I... help you...?”

“Shock therapy,” the man said, and Gordon realized very quickly this was not the nice Dr. Coomer who had woken him up last time. That seemed obvious, now that he thought about it- the hands gently massaging him weren’t cold and metallic... but they still didn’t feel human. He could tell the man was holding himself very carefully, so as not to scratch Gordon with his clawlike appendages.

“Fascinating!” Gordon chirped.

...Did he really just say that?

“You know, normally I wouldn’t care about you Black Mesa imbeciles. You’re all the same. BUT, Harold practically begged me to take care of you while he was out. So I’m helping you on... basically blackmail,” the man explained.

“Oh... thanks for coming anyways, sir,” Gordon said with a smile, trying to ease the man’s apparent sour mood.

“Hmph. Nobody ever thanks me in this job,” the man grumbled. He stopped, a smile spreading across his face. “...It’s a welcome change of pace.”

“So where’s the, uh, machines for this stuff?” Gordon asked curiously, looking up at the stranger.

The stranger wore glasses that seemed to catch more light than physically possible, with striking neon blue earrings shaped like lightning that dangled on his ears. He wore a black coat that matched with Coomer’s, and a blue shirt with a green tie. 

He raised a clawed hand, it sparking with electricity. “I *am* the machine.”

“Er- no, that’s not the right way to put it. Harold’s the machine. I was a test tube baby.”

“Oh! ...What’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking?” Gordon said, leaning up slightly with anticipation.

“Bubby.”

“...That’s really your name?”

“That’s what I said when I was born.” 

“Well, allow me to properly thank you then... Bubby,” Gordon said with a grin.

“You already thanked me, idiot.”

“Sorry... I’m just not used to people being this nice.”

Bubby snorted. “Welcome to the club.”  
“You don’t get treated well once they see you as just another experiment, I’ll tell you that much.”

Gordon stopped. “You mean... I’m not getting fired for the accident?”

“The opposite, actually. Harold plans to move you from an intern to an apprentice... over at Restricted Research.”

Gordon blinked in surprise. “You’d really do that?”

“Harold’s the leader, so what he says goes. Apparently he thinks you’ve got it in you to become one of us.”

“One of you... A scientist...” Gordon muttered, focusing on his brain clutter. Just thinking about science made it harmonize, almost like it was congratulating him on finding the right answer.

“This all depends on if you accept, of course.”

“I don’t see why not,” Gordon said with a nod. “You two seem to know what happened to me better than anyone.”  
“Seeing as you’ve been here during my recovery... I at least owe it to you.”

Bubby smirked. “We’ll make a great scientist out of you yet.”

Gordon flinched, Bubby accidentally shocking him a bit too hard.

“My bad, misfired!”


	2. Below the Surface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon finally gets out of bed rest.

Gordon’s days in recovery flew by, one after the other. It was fairly obvious why, considering all he did for most of the day was either sleep or rest. However, Bubby and Dr. Coomer would drop in frequently, Coomer always running some diagnostic tests and Bubby showing Gordon how to work all his favourite puzzles. Bubby insisted it was because Gordon was ‘the only one who couldn’t leave halfway through’, and that he ‘didn’t care for him or anything like that’, but Gordon had the feeling that it was just Bubby’s way of showing affection. 

It was helpful, really, considering the gears in his brain were turning non stop these days. It had been getting to the point where Gordon was practically trying to leap out of bed. Coomer had scolded him about it, but Gordon just… couldn’t sit still for much longer. 

Luckily, the day finally came when Coomer and Bubby both made their way into Gordon’s hospital room, smiling.

He already knew what Coomer was going to say.

“Hello, Gordon! Do you think you’re ready to head into Restricted Research?” 

“AM I?!” Gordon yelled, jumping out of bed and adjusting his orange turtleneck excitedly.   
“...Yeah. I am.” 

“Good. Follow us.”

Coomer walked off briskly, his bionic legs being hard to keep up with, though that was to be expected, considering this was Gordon’s first time trying to catch up. Bubby seemed to be able to keep along briskly as well, though he wasn’t sure how.

Coomer pulled a sharp turn to the right, into the employee washrooms nearest the hospital wing-

Gordon stopped.

“...Gordon, come along now, we can’t dawdle!” Coomer assured him from inside the washroom.

“No, it’s fine, you can- you can do your business,” Gordon called out awkwardly.

“The door’s through here, duh,” Bubby said, rolling his eyes. 

“It’s a washroom,” Gordon muttered.

“Exactly,” Coomer replied, beckoning Gordon into the last stall, which had an out of order sign on it. He opened it quickly, pressing on a combination of bricks on the wall. The wall slid backwards and out of the way, revealing a dark corridor. 

Gordon wasn’t expecting THAT.

“Well? Go on, I can’t stand being in this filthy place much longer,” Bubby grumbled, pushing ahead of Gordon. 

Gordon silently trailed behind both of them, realizing the corridor led into a giant industrial elevator. Sliding into place, Coomer pressed the button, and they began their descent.

“So is this the part where I finally learn of this... Restricted Research?” Gordon asked excitedly.

“It’s our very own secret department,” Bubby replied. He looked over at Coomer with infatuation. “It was all Harold’s idea, of course, but I helped.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, dear,” Coomer said with a chuckle.

“Oh, you know I never do.”

As the two lovers chuckled, Gordon frowned. 

“Er- yes, but that still doesn’t explain what... any of it is.”

Coomer sighed, clearing his throat. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Gordon, but Black Mesa has a certain... underbelly, that tends to leak to the surface. People who are born here...”

He squeezed Bubby’s hand.

“People who wind up stuck here...” He felt his own face. “People who are MORE than human.”   
“People who have gifts... and get shunned for it.”

Gordon looked down. “Is that why I’ve never heard of you two before?”

“Black Mesa’s ‘scientific miracle’ and nobody even bothers to say hello,” Bubby grumbled.

The elevator opened up, and the two older men headed out first.

Gordon followed after, his mouth agape at the jaw-dropping display before him.

It was a lab... a massive lab. It stretched as far as the eye could see, tubes filled with Green Sludge and Mystery Liquid and all sorts of goodies. There were computers, dissection tables, giant robot arms, tesla coils... 

It was enough to make Gordon cry.

It felt... it felt like home.

“This is... incredible,” Gordon sputtered.

“Isn’t it just?” Coomer hummed. He flipped a switch on a large tube in the middle, its large, industrial covering slowly climbing up to reveal a man younger than Coomer but older than Gordon swimming around in it, wearing a yellow wetsuit. He looked up, seeing Coomer wave to him, and he waved back.

“Who’s that?” Gordon asked.

“Some call him Number Two. Others call him Project Coolatta,” Bubby started.   
“...But he prefers Tommy.”

“Hello!” Tommy greeted from the inside of the tube.

Gordon jumped back in surprise. “He can talk underwater?!”

“Oh, that’s Tube Goop. Most of us can speak under it. I bet you can too,” Bubby explained. 

“Is that Mr. Freeman?” Tommy asked, pressing his face up to the glass.

“DOCTOR Freeman now, Tommy. He’s my apprentice,” Coomer corrected.

“Doctor Freeman... Nice to meet you!” Tommy grinned.

“Maybe you should get out,” Bubby said with a cough.

“Oh! Sure! Give me a sec.”

Tommy was left to swim up, and in the meantime, Coomer extended his arm to grab something from a nearby rack. As his arm snapped back into place, he handed his newly acquired item to Gordon.

“It’s a lab coat. If you’re gonna be one of us, you should wear it.”

Gordon took it with a smile. “Thank you... I love it.” He slung it around his shoulders, popping the collar immediately.  
“So? How’s it look?”

Coomer found it impossible to hide his grin. “FANTASTIC, my boy!”

“You think so?”

“Why, you look like you’ve been here the whole time, Dr. Freeman.”

The group was joined by Tommy, who had a shorter jacket on him, but it still matched the group’s dark theme.

“So… what is it that we do here, actually?” Gordon asked.

“Oh, that’s easy!” Tommy grinned. “We’re planning world domination!” 

...You’d think that’d come up earlier in conversation, but mulling over it, Gordon supposed Coomer DID have this… ‘mad-genius’ vibe about him. 

“Black Mesa has wronged us all,” Bubby piped up. “They gave Harold his brilliant new parts, but laughed him out of the meeting rooms, they treated their miracle of science like a zoo exhibit, and even poor Tommy was a failed clone.”

“So that’s it?” Gordon fired back. “Just because this place wronged you, you’re going to wrong the world?”

“Of course not! We’re going to make it better!” Coomer declared, pumping his fist in the air with a metallic clang. “Improve the world, make it better… stronger! And just a smidge more chaotic!”  
“...More than a smidge, perhaps.”

Gordon tugged on his lab coat excitedly. “Right, so what you’re saying is that world domination means changing the world… not just destroying it?”

“Mr. Freeman, destroy- destroying the world would be counterintuitive,” Tommy said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We live in the world.” 

Gordon blushed. That seemed obvious now. As he awkwardly rubbed his arm on his coat, parts of his hair started sticking up, and even though he didn’t notice, small sparks were coming off of his hand. 

Bubby, however, did.

He grabbed Gordon’s hand, studying it dutifully. 

“Uh-! Is something wrong?” Gordon asked.

“You… Did that sludge give you some sort of electrokinesis too?”

“Electrokinesis?”

Bubby sighed, straightening up and giving Gordon a look that implied he wanted Gordon to follow his actions. He thrust his arms out forcefully, bright blue lightning flying out of them- Coomer and Tommy dodged almost effortlessly. 

“Now you try,” he said.

Gordon gulped, getting himself into position. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, flapping his hands in preparation. Then, he thrust his arms out, same as Bubby, and…!

...It wasn’t much, but one or two pitiful sparks emerged from his hands. He flinched, waiting for the scientists to laugh, only to hear them erupt into cheers. 

“He is one of us!” Bubby yelled happily. “Hell yes! I can teach him all the tricks- but not all of them, so I’ll still be better.”

“We still don’t know how much you can do, but I’m sure it’s all wonderful, Dr. Freeman!” Coomer added.

“You’re gonna do great, Mr.- Mr. Freeman! I’m so excited!” Tommy pat Gordon on the back, ignoring the small spurts of static electricity lingering.

Gordon grinned. He really wasn’t expecting the scary-looking scientists to be so… supportive! It was a little strange, actually… How most scientists hadn’t given him more than a once-over, and yet these not-quite-human mad geniuses hiding underneath Black Mesa had welcomed Gordon as one of their own…

It was totally ironic. 

And yet, Gordon already felt safe here…

It really felt like home.

He had the feeling he was going to enjoy his new position a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT im bad at writing early early doc


	3. Guard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new member joins the team. Kinda.

  
Benrey has a fairly standard job. 

He’s a guard at some freaky science facility, with a bunch of doctors who don’t pay him any mind whatsoever aside from complaining about routine security checks.

He doesn’t have much work friends- most of the guards are pretty checked out, not here to make small talk.

That was fine... Neither was Benrey. 

Benrey had friends at home, and he enjoyed playing video games with them, but he wouldn’t call him a hardcore gamer. 

He minded his own business, and things were normal.

HE was normal.

So what he saw that day struck him as definitely, definitely not normal.

He was making his rounds around his usual segment of Black Mesa, when he heard a loud clanking of metal above his head. 

Come to think of it, there was all sorts of clinking and whirring, accompanied by angry grumbling.

Where would that even be coming from? Did a raccoon break into the vents or something?

Benrey looked up above him, only to see his theory was WILDLY off-base.

It was a scientist.

Specifically, a scientist wearing a large metal belt that had metal arms protruding on the back area, swinging from the vents as he complained under his breath about the ‘botched cybernetics in this place’.

Benrey could hardly believe his eyes. He rubbed them dubiously, blinking as his legs slowly began picking up speed, willing him to catch up with the scientist.

He didn’t even believe in aliens, and now he was supposed to believe that scientists crawled across ceilings?! Highly unlikely. 

He had to stop this somehow. He didn’t know how, but he HAD to. He had to find out more. Benrey broke into a sprint, following the insect-like scientist and opening his mouth to shout out something that could stop him!-

“can i see your passport?”

The scientist stopped in place, the metallic arms scuttling down along the wall and lowering him to face Benrey.

“I beg your pardon?”

The scientist was... scarier up close. His eyes were hidden by large, opaque goggles, masking the expression hidden with his eyes. His hair had shoots of grey in it, and seemed to stand on end more than usual hair would. He wore a pointed lab coat, and an orange turtleneck... and, of course, that belt.

“your passport,” Benrey repeated with a croak.

“I have worked here for MANY years, sir. I do not REQUIRE a PASSPORT!” His voice was grand and confident in itself.

“oh okay.”

“i’m gonna have to follow you then.”

The scientist cocked an eyebrow. “...You’re a funny little man.”

Benrey felt his collar get lifted up by one of the scientist’s arms, and he was promptly turned around and pushed with a pat.

“Go on your way now, strange little man. I’m very very busy and I don’t have time for this.”

As Benrey turned around, he saw the scientist continue down the hallway.

...He was too intrigued to let this opportunity slip.

Benrey chased after him.

Benrey was fast, but the scientist was faster. It was taking him everything he had to keep up with the scientist’s dodging and weaving through corridors. 

Finally, Benrey followed him into... the bathroom, of all places. He was stopped suddenly by the science turning around to make sure nobody followed him.

...Except, obviously, someone had.

“What are you still doing here? Are you here for the cybernetics? Get your own!” The scientist barked.

“no, uh, i just wanna see your passport, mr. doctor sir.”

“Call me Doc. Everyone else does. I’m sure you must be very busy doing your job, so I’m going to have to ask you to stop following me, my boy.”

“uhmmm- yeah- no.”

The two of them stared at eachother for a while.

“can i come with you.”

Doc stood there in stunned silence.

“...For what reason?”

“please sir.” 

“I-“ He sighed. “Bubby isn’t going to like this, but I don’t have time to dawdle. Come on.” Doc kicked open one of the stall doors, pressing the wall repeatedly as a door slid open. 

Benrey followed him through, looking around as they came into the light.

So Black Mesa had a secret underground lab this whole time...?

Benrey was seriously starting to question how much he knew of his job.

Doc rushed further into the lab, where he joined back up with three other scientists, one of them sitting in a chair and smiling, looking off into the distance.

“I’ve got Harold’s repairs,” Doc explained.

“Good! You hear that, dear?” Bubby asked, patting his husband on the shoulder.

“Hello, Gordon!” Coomer said cheerily.

Bubby looked back at Doc with a sigh. “His cyborg parts are still on the fritz.”

“I’ll get him a-asleep,” Tommy fretted, as Bubby pulled Gordon to the side.

“What is THAT?” Bubby barked. He pointed at Benrey, who was standing politely near the entrance.

“I don’t know!” Doc whined. “The fiend wouldn’t stop following me!” 

“Why??”

“I don’t know!!”

“yo,” Benrey said, waving quietly. 

Doc and Bubby both looked at him in confusion.

“He’s so...” Doc started.

“Polite,” Bubby finished.

“What does he even want?” Doc muttered.

Benrey shrugged. “i was um. curious, sirs.” 

“... We have to keep him,” Doc whispered, clapping his hands together.

“What?! No we absolutely do not!” Bubby yelled.

“You kept me!” Doc shot back.

“That’s different!”

Doc tapped a finger to his forehead. “Now, think about it. As we finalize our plans for world domination, we’ll need a bodyguard, won’t we?”

“Not really,” Bubby snorted.

“Oh, PLEEEASE can we keep him, PLEEEEASE? He’s so polite!” Doc whined, sliding down as he held Bubby’s coat.

Bubby groaned. “You’re lucky Harold isn’t around to tell you no. FINE. He can stay.”

“AHAHA! YES! VICTORY!” Doc pumped his fist in the air, running over to Benrey. 

“You! Strange man who I don’t yet know the name of! You’re being relocated to guard Restricted Research!” Doc proclaimed.

“okay,” Benrey said quietly.

“You’re going to be more powerful than you could even fathom- I could get you a small country in Europe to be in charge of!”

“cool.”

“AND IT WILL BE MAGNIFICENT!”

“i agree.”

On the other side of the room, Coomer got up from the operating table, adjusting his hands.   
“Damn cybernetics... I’ll have a piece of my mind with whoever decided to shut the apartment down.”

“-Doc, what’s that you have over there?” 

“This is, ah..” Doc looked over at Benrey, waiting for his name.”

“benrey,” Benrey benried. 

“Benrey!”

“Er, yes, but why is he here?” Coomer asked, puzzled.

“Because he’s polite!” Doc chirped.

The team gave each other a look.

...Well, Doc was part of their family, so what he says goes.

“Welcome to the- to the Mad Science team, Benrey!” Tommy said excitedly, giving a thumbs-up.

“oh cool. so what do we do here?” Benrey asked innocently.

The team grinned evilly, giving eachother a glance as they all announced what exactly their motivation was.

“PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION!”

“wow.”

Benrey applauded politely, and all of them beamed with pride.

Looks like his work life was about to get a lot more exciting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TIMESKIP TIME!! bennys here now


End file.
